Report: Cameroon mob murders gay man; police jail lover

Two weeks after the murder of activist Eric Lembembe, I have received word of yet another murder of a young gay man in Cameroon. The murder of Henry Mbah occurred two days ago in Muyunge, a village in the Muyuka subdivision in the South West Region of Cameroon. Mob killings is not unusual in Cameroon as we recall the murder of a trader in January who was beaten and stoned by a mob after being caught having intimate relations with a man.

The blog adds:

At this time, due to highly sensitive nature of this story and the anti-gay sentiment by authorities in the region, this story has not been verified by local police or Government authorities. I hope outlets with greater resources than mine will look further into this story. I published it, nonetheless, because the LGBT sources in hiding and on the ground in Cameroon are desperately seeking international attention and feel voiceless ….

In the blog’s account, Henry Mbah, 35, was the partner of Elevis Atabong, 24, for five years. More recently, Henry, under pressure from his family, had married a woman. This week, suspecting that he was having an affair, she followed him when he went to visit Elevis on Elevis’s birthday. Then:

Expecting to catch him with another woman she was shocked to find Henry embracing Elevis and she screamed out. People, startled by the screams started to arrive outside the room, and before long a crowd formed, dragging Henry out. They started to beat him and pelted him with stones. By the time the police arrived on the scene, Henry was already dead.

Police arrested Elevis, offering him the option of claiming that Henry had drugged him to have sex, which would have portrayed the mob as rescuers. He refused, although he faced the possibility of five years in prison if he is convicted for same-sex activity. He remains in detention in Muyunge.